Court documents detail Balto. Co. altercation where 2 men were set on fire

Baltimore County police are using cellphone video footage taken by a bystander as they investigate an incident in which two men were set on fire in White Marsh on Friday, according to charging documents in the case.

The suspect, Christopher Harrison Jr., 28, of Edgewood, was being held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center on Monday. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and first- and second-degree assault.

Police say two men, ages 21 and 24, were set on fire during the altercation at U.S. 40 and Allender Road. Officers arrived at the scene about 4:45 p.m. for a report of a vehicle fire but found that two people had been set ablaze, according to charging documents.

Graphic video of the incident has circulated online. According to the charging documents filed in District Court, video footage corroborates witness statements in the case.

The victims remained in critical condition Monday. They both received burns to much of their bodies — one on between 60 percent and 70 percent of his body and the other on 80 percent, police wrote in court documents.

Baltimore County

Christopher Harrison Jr.

Christopher Harrison Jr. (Baltimore County)

Harrison has no attorney listed in court files for the case. According to the charging documents, he denied intentionally setting anyone on fire and told police during an interview he had dropped a gasoline container while holding a lit cigarette.

Charging documents state that Harrison and another man were walking from a gas station at U.S. 40 and Allender Road. Campbell approached the two men, who both carried gasoline containers, and punched Harrison in the face, police wrote in the documents.

Harrison then "intentionally doused" Campbell with gasoline as he was lighting the fuel on fire, the documents say. Campbell, on fire and panicking, then ran into the other man, who was still holding a gas container. As a result, the other man became engulfed in flames.

Campbell dropped to the ground to extinguish the fire, police wrote. Passengers in a vehicle in traffic stopped to extinguish the flames on the other man with jackets and a fire extinguisher.

Police say the men worked together, but the court documents do not say where they worked.